Spy Kids

Who would have thought that a film about kids being spies would actually be a huge hit? Well, for parents who want to show their kids a good film, you're in luck. In 2001, writer and director Robert Rodriguez delivered with "Spy Kids." I originally dismissed this movie because I thought it was silly, but when my cousin lent it to us, and I watched it, I liked it. (Just to let you know, in case you probably haven't guessed, this will be Spy Kids month). The film starts off with Ingrid Cortez, played by one of the most attractive actresses of all time, Carla Gugino, putting her children, Carmen, played by Alexa Vega, and Juni, played by Daryl Sabara, to bed. They ask for a bedtime story, and she tells them a story of two spies of the Organization of Super Spies (OSS). This is a reference to the Office of Strategic Services. What she doesn't tell the kids that it's the story of how her and their father, Gregorio, played by one of the best Hispanic actors, Antonio Banderas, were originally assigned to assassinate one another, but ended up marrying each other. They ended up retiring from the OSS because they wanted to settle down and have a family.

Now it has some the typical family dilemmas that all families might have to deal with. Carmen is upset that she has to babysit Juni all the time and feels that she needs to be responsible for only herself. However, what she doesn't tell her family, although Ingrid does know this from Carmen's teachers, is that she skips school. Also, Carmen thinks that Juni doesn't know that Carmen has to wear diapers at night because she still wets the bed. Here's a little something that my cousin said about Carmen still wearing diapers: Carmen goes through periods and that is why she wears diapers. I highly doubt that girls wear diapers at night because of their periods, but when I first saw this, I originally thought it was bedwetting. He also claims they said that Carmen is nine-years-old, but that was never mentioned in the movie and girls don't start getting periods until they hit puberty, which doesn't start at the age of nine. Juni also has some problems of his own: He is lost in a show called "Floop's Fooglies," hosted by Fegan Floop, played by Alan Cumming, and co-starred by Fooglies (colorful, mutant, gibberish speaking friends), that Gregorio openly tells Juni how much he hates the show. Juni also has wart problems because he is scared, and has imaginary friends as well. Gregorio suspects that the Fooglies are OSS Agents that have been reported missing, so Ingrid insists that they both go out to investigate like they did when they were younger.

When they do that, they leave the kids in the care of their "Uncle" Felix Gumm, played by the very funny Mexican comedian Cheech Marin, who tell the children about their parents' real identity after he finds out that they are kidnapped, and Floop's minions, the Thumb-Thumbs. This leads the kids to go out and learn how to be spies by rescuing their parents. They escape to the safe house, while Floop is also working a business deal with Mr. Lisp, played by the T-1000 himself, Robert Patrick, who is constructing an army of robotic children, created by Floop's assistant, Alexander Minion, played by the actor who would go on to star in the hit sitcom Monk, Tony Shaloub. However, the kids are missing their brains, and Mr. Lisp wants the children ready fast. On the other side, Floop feels that his show is missing something, but doesn't know what. He also calls in Gregorio and Ingrid because Gregorio was one of the scientists that worked on the "Third Brain" in the OSS, which is a secret that Gregorio kept from his family.

At the safe-house, Carmen and Juni are discovered by Ms. Gradenko, played by Lois Lane from that 90s sitcom, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Teri Hatcher, to find out about the Third Brain, which the kids don't even know is in the safe-house. They escape, and find their father's older brother, Machete, played by one of the best known action stars, Danny Trejo. Carmen finds out that she and her uncle Machete have something in common, where Machete did not like babysitting and protecting Gregorio all of his life. However, along the way, Carmen and Juni grow a bond and become closer to one another as siblings.

I won't give too much away, since I probably gave away a whole lot of the plot. The late film critic, Roger Ebert, said, "Spy Kids is an intelligent, upbeat, happy movie that is not about the comedy of embarrassment, that does not have anybody rolling around in dog poop, that would rather find out what it can accomplish than what it can get away with" (Ebert). This is a new kind of spy films that you have never seen before, since this is the first one that involves kids as spies. Parents and kids will love this film since it is a film for the whole family. Also, if anyone is a fan of George Clooney, he is in this film as well as the OSS boss, Devlin. It shows a family that is not a good family since they have problems, but as the film goes on, they learn to get along with one another and start to bond as a family. If you don't have a good relationship with your family or you don't interact with your family a lot, you should. Otherwise, you will end up not having a good relationship and won't get along with your family. Speaking of which, I should start doing that as well. Stay tuned next week for the sequel.